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EDGE Hockey blog shares news, information of various hockey equipment. EDGE manufactures and sells world class field hockey sticks and hockey equipment, using leading international players and skilled technical engineers to design unique stick shapes and compositions.

We found this article fascinating, and, thought you would also be interested to read excerpts from the original article published by FIH November 11 2015:

Hockey players are some of the fittest athletes on the planet. Here's why...

For years there's been much debate about which sport produces the fittest athletes? Which training regime is the toughest? Whose legs are the most muscled, abs the most ripped and arms the most toned?

Well it seems we have found our answer, thanks to FIH Innovation Partner Loughborough University – one of the top sports universities in the world.

The sports scientists at Loughborough studied hours of action from the 2014 World Cup and looked at two main qualities: namely the distances run during a match and the intensity maintained while running. They then compared these to other invasive team sports, in this case rugby 7s and football (soccer).

The results will not surprise anyone who has watched or played a hockey match. On average, field players in hockey cover more metres and work at a higher intensity than both footballers or rugby players.

In an average pattern of play, all three sports involve sprinting, jogging, walking and even periods where they stand still. The data from video action reveals that where a rugby 7s player will cover an average of 94 metres in a minute, a footballer covers an average of 125 metres in the same time frame, while a hockey player outruns them all with a huge 140 metres per minute.

Remember, this includes all actions - jogging back after a sprint, or running flat out to chase down opponents and set up attacks.

Perhaps a more pertinent figure when relating to the overall fitness of a player can be seen by the amount of the game that is played at a high intensity.

Where a football player spends just nine percent of the game working at an intensity that sees the heart-rate reaching 85-90 percent of its maximum, a hockey player can sustain that work rate for 30-40 percent of the game. A rugby player works at a high intensity for 20 percent of the game.

During those periods of high intensity activity, a hockey player will be running at speeds of above 19kmh.

On average, a hockey player will run eight to nine kilometres during a match. When compared to footballers, who regularly reach more than 10 kilometres in a game, it is worth remembering that hockey is a 60 minute game where football is 90 minutes. This means hockey players reach almost the same distance with a third less time to achieve it.

And it is not just the experts from Loughborough who have reached these conclusions.

An eminent professor, Jeff Potteiger, a Dean within the Movement Science department at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, told the Washington Post: “First, we have to define what ‘fittest’ means… I think you have to use cardiovascular fitness, anaerobic power, muscular strength, muscle endurance and body composition…”

The professor then rattled off several sports: “Soccer players, they have quickness, agility, speed but I would be concerned about their power; boxers are fit, but if you put them in another sport, I don’t know how well they would do… Now I forgot hockey players, they’re flexible, powerful, great body composition, good cardiovascular fitness. Yeah, I’d probably put them near the top.”

While science is great at providing the empirical evidence we need to prove that hockey players are right up there as some of the fittest people on the planet, well, we only have to use our own powers of observation to see that hockey players look just great.

There are a variety of field hockey sticks available in the market and it becomes really hard to choose which one would be best for you. If you’re a field hockey player and you are looking for a top quality field hockey stick that can enhance your play, you’ve come to the right place.

In this succinct article, we discuss what makes a top quality field hockey stick, so it becomes easier for you to choose the best stick there is. Let’s get started:

Get to Know about the Technology that Makes Hockey Sticks Great

There are a plethora of manufacturing firms and brands that are still practicing and using older methods of crafting hockey sticks, which is great if you want to use them as ornaments, however, these hockey sticks won’t be as good as the high-end field hockey sticks that are utilizing cutting-edge technology. Here are some of the technological advancements that are applied to top quality field hockey sticks:

Construction

To provide consistency, rigidness and power, renowned manufacturing firms such as EDGE Hockey, use state-of-the-art channel cavity systems. EDGE's standard, 3 channel strut system, provides consistency to the power levels through the length of the stick. The surface area of reinforcement is enlarged which increases the overall power.

The dual strut technology, that EDGE introduced at the beginning of the 2016 season, sets a new industry standard for combining power, touch, & lightness. This ground breaking innovation was made possible using the twin core technology, which takes the weight out of the stick, (the sticks are less than 500g), combined with a high carbon content, and smart engineering processes, to provide the stiffness and power required in a high performance stick.

Materials - Carbon Content

The touch, feel and responsiveness of a field hockey stick will tell you all about itself. Most top quality field hockey sticks have a high carbon content. When we inspected the composition of EDGE hockey sticks we saw they were layered with high tech interwoven fibers, what they refer to as their ‘3K carbon weave’

Carbon, and the way it is used in the manufacturing process, provides a stick with its rigidity, premium touch, classy feel, and high responsiveness - all great for your hockey maneuvers. It also ensures better durability.

Look for the Team Behind Hockey Manufacturing Firms

While technology plays a vital role in the production of top quality field hockey sticks, it’s also necessary to seek people who are involved on the turf, as well as the engineers and technicians behind-the-scenes, to make hockey sticks first-class.

One of the manufacturing firms that we have reviewed and we believe produce world class field hockey sticks is EDGE Hockey. This is because not only do they use all the above technologies that we’ve described, they also have leading international players and skilled technicians on their team.

Final Verdict

If you’re looking for a field hockey stick that packs a powerful punch, has an international touch and yields longer life, we believe without exception that EDGE Hockey will provide you with what you are looking for.

Being an elite athlete requires a lot of time and effort put into training to ensure that our team can perform at the highest level on the world stage. This is reflected by what is required of the team and as individuals in the team when training both on and off the hockey field. In relation to what our training program typically looks like you will usually see the @nzblacksticks completing 2-4 sessions a day with usually one day off for a recovery/regeneration day. These sessions include anything from strength and conditioning to group hockey trainings, position specific training sessions, team building sessions, scouting sessions, psychology seminars, yoga, team meetings, recovery post training sessions (i.e. ice baths or roller sessions) as well as the option of doing individual sessions with our coaches especially if we have a specialised skill to work on (i.e. short corner skills).

In our preparation for Rio we had a simulation training phase where our whole squad was centralised on the North Shore of Auckland where we would more often than not be seen at North Harbour Hockey stadium and surrounding facilities, namely AUT Millennium. North Harbour was the first representative club that I began playing hockey for in New Zealand when I was 7 years old. I first began playing on pitch 4 which is the sand turf down at the bottom of the hill where I would wear my Target Road Primary School uniform or my North Harbour baggy top tucked into one of those old school netball skirts.. you know the ones with the pleats.. Driving back past pitch 4 heading up to the water-based turfs brings back so many fond memories from back in the day where I would either be playing or watching my brother and his teammates play for NH at the Hatch Cup all those years ago. Training at North Harbour has also been an ideal location to get to and from the AUT Millennium facilities which is where we are able to use a number of services which benefit all athletes which include gym, physio, nutritionists, life advisors, recovery facilities, meeting up with coaches, a place to hang out in between sessions or even to just grab a coffee or some lunch. Having so many facilities in one location provides a convenient venue along with a holistic environment to assist us all not only with the life that comes with being an athlete but by also providing guidance and options for life after sport.

As a striker a major focus for us is obviously:

goal scoring,

eliminations,

creating good pressing lines,

counter attack and

connections with our teammates.

After team training sessions as a striker group we would spend a bit of extra time practicing all types of shots within the circle. For myself after coming back from fracturing my thumb I spent a lot of time working on getting my grip back and hitting the way I normally would. I would usually be tapping around a hockey ball before and after sessions or even around the house just to get my touch back. In terms of being 'Olympic-fit' I don't think there is a major difference in terms of what type of fitness we do in accordance with different positions on the field. Regardless of where we play on the field, as a NZ Black Stick we pride ourselves on being a really fit team no matter who the opposition are and this is a driving factor for us when playing all of our games.

For those of you that don't know me my name is Kirsten Pearce and I'm a striker who plays for the New Zealand Black Sticks. I'm a relatively new squad member after being included at the start of last year. I debuted against Canada on the 5th of February 2015 and currently have 42 caps along with 16 goals to my name. Along with Edge Hockey NZ we thought it would be an interesting idea if I wrote a few blogs every now and then to give a bit of an insight into the life of a NZ Black Stick, so here it goes..

You may or may not know but I have just started back at training after injuring my right thumb in our first game at the 8 Nations tournament in Hawke's Bay in April. I had been told a number of times that I had done a really good job at fracturing my thumb and as such this saw myself sidelined for just over a month. For me it didn't matter whether I was injured or not I would try to do as much as I was allowed to do to get myself back onto the pitch and playing as soon as possible. Although this injury may seem like not such a big deal, when you're naturally a right-handed person and now have your right thumb in a splint you quickly realise how much you actually need it for basic everyday things like tying shoe laces, cutting up food etc.. I was lucky in the fact that I could easily slip into my Reebok Pump's so I didn't need to tie my shoelaces up too often ;). After winning the 8 Nations tournament we were able to head back to our "home" locations for a couple of days before heading back to Auckland to begin our Rio Centralisation training block. Since not everyone is centrally based together year in year out this training block brings together all 25 squad members to one location so that we can train as a unit for a few months on our #RoadToRio.

Once back in Auckland our Rio centralisation training block began which had to be modified for me to start off with for the first few weeks. Whilst I was injured although I wasn't able to do everything that all of the other girls would be doing at training I would still be there doing a bunch of cardio & agility sessions (... well mostly cardio sessions) in place of full on hockey sessions. I decided to use this time as an opportunity to work on my left handed skills/strength so you would usually see me working on one handed tomahawks, left handed jinking, left hand dominated hitting both backhand and forehand and attempting left-handed 3D skills. As frustrating as it was at the start it gave me something to focus on for the time being until I was able to get back to using both hands like a typical hockey player and it was also a nice change from running up and down a hockey pitch, being on a treadmill or a bike.

I've just been given the all clear to get back on the pitch and start training again with the girls after just over 4 weeks of being sidelined so to say that I'm excited to be back is an understatement! If you want to keep up to date with my journey with the NZ Black Sticks follow me on Facebook at KirstPearce18, Instagram @kirst_pearce18 or Twitter @kirstenpearce18.

Amauri AmatWhich shoe do you always put on first and do you have any other pre-match rituals?

Before every match I always put everything on my right side before my left and alternate (i.e. right inner, left inner, right sock, left sock etc.). I have a couple of pre-match rituals I guess you could say, those being listening to some tunes whilst I walk onto the pitch and a couple of other little things that when you watch me play I do every time before a match, one has something to do with my hair, and, the other is something I do before I head out for anthems on the field.

There are definitely a few that come to mind but I would have to say every chance I get to step out onto the pitch and represent New Zealand as well as knowing that perseverance and hard work got me to where I am today.

There are definitely some aspects of living in Australia that I miss with the most prominent being my family and friends, however, I have been extremely lucky with the amount of support I have received from my family friends over here, the staff at Hockey NZ as well as the Black Sticks girls, all of which has made my transition over to New Zealand a lot easier!

Recruitment 4 Hockey What EDGE hockey stick do you use & why? My hockey stick of choice is the Pink Diamond (just in case it isn’t obvious enough already) and I switch up from time to time by using both the light and medium weighted 36.5”. For me, it really just comes down to the feel of it when I’m playing and I guess using a hockey stick that is my favourite colour is an added bonus.

tristankearns16 In your opinion, what’s the best place in the world to play a hockey match? Are there any specific fans you remember and why?

Such a great question and I think after I get a bit more experience with playing at different venues around the world then I will be able to answer it. However, I have to say that when we have headed to smaller towns in New Zealand we have some amazing fans who are always happy to have a bit of a chat, grab some signatures and a picture with us.

edgehockeysticks How is the Olympic preparation going? What’s in store for the Black Stick’s in the road to Rio?

Olympic preparations are going great! We have been back into Full-Time training for the past few weeks and are about to go on our first tour of the year to Argentina from the 21st February – 4 March. Although our Olympic squad hasn’t been announced just yet we are continuing to build on from our performances last year with some hard training sessions including pitch, gym, conditioning along with some yoga and a bunch of team building activities on our road to Rio. We also have a number of tournaments before Rio so if you’re keen on where we will be playing check out www.hockeynz.co.nz for more details and follow us on instagram @nzblacksticks and on Facebook.

Trust in the belief that you have in yourself, don’t be afraid to ask for help, surround yourself with people who can make a positive influence on you, control the controllables and do more than the bare minimum because if it was easy then everyone would be doing it.

Morganblamey What’s the single most important attribute you feel allows you to be a goal scorer

I think it definitely comes down to a few things but mainly not over thinking things and using your instinct.

Thanks Kirsten!

Kirsten Pearce, New Zealand Black Sticks #18

Kirsten was born in South Africa, and, with her family then lived in both New Zealand & Australia. She started playing hockey at the age of 7 in New Zealand, representing North Harbour prior to moving to Australia with her family. In Australia, Kirsten began playing in the Junior competition and progressed her way through the ranks at Club, State and National level. She has been a part of State and National squads including being a NSWIS scholarship holder and NSW AHL (Australian Hockey League) Arrows team member. Kirsten was selected into the Australian under 21’s hockey squad. In addition to outdoor hockey, Kirsten was also chosen as an Australian Indoor Women’s World Cup squad member. In January 2015 she was given the opportunity to attend a Super Camp in Auckland with the NZ National Team and was selected into the NZ Black Sticks 2015 squad. Kirsten debuted for the Black Sticks in February 2015 against Canada. She has now accumulated 42 caps for the Black Sticks and we envisage many more to come.

EDGE Hockey launches in New Zealand for the first time. We are not a multi purpose sport brand or lifestyle fitness brand, we are a serious hockey brand.

With a range of technically advanced hockey sticks, including the new Featherlite series, EDGE delivers players top end quality at affordable prices. We sell direct to players online, therefore enabling us to keep the prices below other international brands. There is an EDGE hockey stick for every player – catering for kids through to professionals.

With a range of hockey gear designed by players for players, we have you covered getting to and from the pitch.